2012 - układ sił

[Joao]

A mnie się zdaje, że dużym sukcesem Roddicka będzie utrzymanie w top 20.

[robpal]

History against Novak Djokovic in 2012

We know that the calendar-year Grand Slam is the Holy Grail of men's tennis. It's such a rare feat, having been accomplished just once during the Open era. Forty-two years ago, Rod Laver pulled off the remarkable accomplishment, and since then, the true mark of all-time single-season excellence has been the three-major year. In the past four decades, the feat has been accomplished six times, by five different players -- most recently, of course, by Novak Djokovic in 2011.

Because this is a "what have you done for me lately" world, the question now is whether Djokovic can keep up his Grand Slam pace in 2012. If we use history as a guide, it's going to be exceedingly difficult. Only one of the previous four tri-Slammers has repeated, while two of them went 0-for-4 the following year. Which is the most likely direction for Djokovic? Let's roll a little videotape.

Jimmy Connors pulled off the first triple after Laver, in 1974. The only one he didn't win was the French Open, but he didn't lose it, either; Connors was banned for playing World Team Tennis that year. Connors had his revenge when he steamrolled an aging Ken Rosewall in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals. By the end of the year, some observers believed he would dominate for the next decade.

By the following Wimbledon, Connors may have believed it himself. Despite a leg injury, he demolished Roscoe Tanner in the semifinals while strutting like a "miniature Tarzan," in the words of one writer. Unbeknownst to Jimbo, though, his opponent in the final, Arthur Ashe, was watching all of it from the locker room. He knew what he couldn't do against Connors: Beat him with pace, the way Tanner was trying to do. So Ashe went in the other direction, frustrating Connors with dinks and slices in the final, and in the process setting the template for how to play Connors for the rest of his career. Manolo Orantes did the same in the U.S. Open final. One year after his three-Slam season, Jimbo had been figured out, and shut out.

This seems like an unlikely scenario for Djokovic in 2012. Although he has had his mental and physical struggles, as well as problems with individual shots like the serve and forehand, he doesn't seem vulnerable to any one style of play. Djokovic is solid all around, from both wings and with the return especially. He doesn't win with weapons as much as he does with lack of weaknesses. It's hard to see an Ashe-like kryptonite on the horizon.

It took 14 years for another man to match Connors' feat. Mats Wilander's miracle year came in 1988, when he added a backhand slice, edged Pat Cash in a five-setter in Melbourne, topped Henri Leconte at the French, and finally tracked down and passed Ivan Lendl at the U.S. Open. But that was basically it for Wilander. He said he felt like he had accomplished all of his goals that season, and was unable to muster up the desire and discipline to do it again. He never reached another Slam final.

Wilander's 1988, as fabulous as it was, now looks like the sport's biggest one-off. Greater champions than Wilander -- Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi -- never matched what the Swede pulled off that season.

At first glance, Djokovic's 2011 could end up being something similar. Before this year, he was an entrenched third in the ATP's pecking order, with just one major on his résumé. Is he the Wilander of his era? I don't think so. Mats lost because he lost motivation. He had done what he came to do. Djokovic was raised to believe he was going to be No. 1. He hasn't done all he came to do, and a decline in motivation seems unlikely.

The past two tri-Slammers were Djokovic's main rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. If Djokovic is looking for inspiration, he should look to Federer. He followed up his first three-major year, 2004, by going 81-4 the next season. The second time he won three, 2006, he did it again in 2007, despite the presence of Nadal. This is the standard that Djokovic labors under in 2012.

Is he the next Federer, the next long-term dominant champion? Eighty-one and four is a lot to ask; that's an even better year, record-wise, than Djokovic had this season. And having to do it with both Federer and Nadal still at his heels will make it doubly tough. Djokovic is not Wilander, but I don't think he's going to match Federer's peak four-year run, either.

Finally, there's the example of Nadal himself, who won three majors in 2010. The Spaniard didn't match it, for a very different reason than Connors or Wilander. Nadal was nearly as good in 2011, but he was surpassed by one player, Djokovic, who took his Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns.

Is this a likely template for Djokovic? Well, there is this guy out there who was one point, and a couple of inches, from taking him out of the U.S. Open this year …

http://espn.go.com/tennis/blog/_/name/t ... kovic-2012

[Bizon]

Zgodzę się z wami że w przypadku Roddicka nie ma co wiele po nim oczekiwać. Jego największe atuty sprzed lat zniknęły bezpowrotnie, a obecny styl gry nie robi na nikim wrażenia. Można mieć tylko nadzieję na jakiś pojedynczy turniej w którym wyskoczy z super formą serwisową i z głębi kortu będzie w stanie zagrać bardziej odważnie, a może jakiś kolejny Mastersik na ukoronowanie kariery wpadnie do kolekcji? Pomarzyć zawsze można...

[Art]

Countdown To 2012 - Names To Look Out For


All eyes will be on Australian teenager Bernard Tomic in Melbourne.

As part of our 'Countdown to 2012' series, ATPWorldTour.com profiles the rising stars who will look to make their mark in the upcoming season.

The Australian Open has a tradition of setting the stage for burgeoning ATP World Tour stars to make their breakthrough. Remember Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008? What about Marcos Baghdatis lighting up the court in 2006?

Canadian Milos Raonic announced himself on the world stage in Melbourne this year, qualifying into the main draw before beating World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny to reach the fourth round (l. to Ferrer). The 20 year old went on to be voted 2011 ATP World Tour Newcomer of the Year after winning his first title at the SAP Open (d. Verdasco) in San Jose and finishing on the verge of the Top 30.

Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov was another star to emerge at the first major tournament of the year, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Robin Soderling to reach the quarter-finals (l. to Murray). The enigmatic 23 year old would finish the year No. 15 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings after compiling a 38-29 match record, including winning his first ATP World Tour title at the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag (d. Cilic).

As the new season approaches, Raonic and Dolgopolov won’t be the only players looking to back up strong 2011 results. Russia’s Alex Bogomolov Jr., was named the 2011 ATP World Tour Most Improved Player of the Year after rising from No. 166 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings at the end of 2010 to a career-high No. 33 in November. At the age of 28, he compiled a 27-21 match record, eclipsing the total number of matches he had won on the ATP World Tour prior to this season.

Going into 2012 a host of rising ATP World Tour stars are poised to make their move in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. All eyes will be on leading Australian prospect, World No. 42 Bernard Tomic, who showed his promise with a run through to the 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic) as a qualifier. The Gold Coast teenager excited local fans in Melbourne last year with victories over two Top 50 players before falling in the third round to Rafael Nadal.

American Donald Young made his long-awaited mark at this year’s US Open, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka en route to the fourth round, before going on to reach his first ATP World Tour final at the PTT Thailand Open (l. to Murray) in Bangkok. The 22 year old finished the year a career-high World No. 39 and will look to continue his rise at the Australian Open.

Other names to watch out for in 2012 will be Bulgarian 20-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, who is still looking to transition his strong junior results to the professional tour; American teenager Ryan Harrison, who reached two ATP World Tour semi-finals this season; and German 21-year-old Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who finished the year a career-high World No. 81 after winning the inaugural ATP Challenger Tour Finals in Sao Paulo (d. Sela).

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... Stars.aspx

[robpal]

Countdown To 2012 - Roger Reaches For No. 1


Roger Federer will look to become the fifth player
aged 30 and over to hold the No. 1 ranking.

As part of our 'Countdown to 2012' series, ATPWorldTour.com looks at Roger Federer's mission to regain the World No. 1 ranking.

Roger Federer came oh-so-close to matching Pete Sampras’ record of 286 weeks at No. 1, ultimately coming up one win and one week short with his loss to Robin Soderling in the 2010 Roland Garros quarter-finals. Rafael Nadal went on to strip the Swiss of the top spot, and Novak Djokovic prevented Federer’s return to No. 1 in 2011.

Will 2012 be Federer’s year to return to No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings and finally overtake Sampras?

Though he starts an ATP World Tour season outside the Top 2 for the first time since 2003, Federer finished 2011 as the in-form player. Following the US Open, he won 17 straight matches with titles at Basel, Paris and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to collect 3,000 rankings points and move ahead of Andy Murray to No. 3 in the year-end rankings.

Entering 2012, he trails No. 1 Djokovic by 5,460 rankings points, No. 2 Nadal by 1,425 and holds a slim 780-point lead over No. 4 Murray. But of the players in the Top 4, Federer stands to gain the most ground through the conclusion of the US Open. Djokovic has 13,070 rankings points to defend, including three Grand Slam titles and five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, while Nadal has 8,985 and Murray 5,450. Federer, who managed to win just one title in Doha until the final month of the season, has 5,170 points to defend.

“Well, that’s a long way to go, but who knows? One day maybe I’ll get there,” Federer told The New York Times earlier this month. “I had to just kind of ignore it at the moment because I know that Novak with his unbelievable year has kind of put that very far from me, but then again, all of a sudden you play well and you win 17 matches in a row and you’re back where you at least feel if you win a Slam or something, you’re right in the conversation again, so that’s interesting and that excites me.”

Federer will be attempting to become just the fifth player aged 30 and over to hold down the ATP’s top ranking. John Newcombe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl were 30 during their last reign at No. 1, while Andre Agassi was 33 during his final stint for 14 weeks in 2003.

Agassi had endured a 137-week wait to get back to No. 1, after being overtaken by Sampras following the 2000 US Open. That occasion also marked the last time that Sampras, 29 at the time, would regain the No. 1 spot.

By the time the 2012 season starts, it will have been 83 weeks since Federer last held top dog status on the ATP World Tour. He enjoyed a 48-week run at World No. 1 the last time, taking the top ranking back from Nadal following his 2009 Wimbledon triumph. He first ascended to No. 1 on February 2004 and held the position for a record 237 consecutive weeks.

Federer already has a vote of confidence from Tim Henman, who believes the Swiss still has the drive and skill to return to the top. “He is just short of Sampras' record for most weeks at World No. 1; I know Roger will really want to break that record, so I think it’s possible,” said the former British No. 1. “I think he will win more Slams, I really do. If the conditions favour him then Roger at his best is still better than anyone else.”

Federer’s first test of the 2012 season will come as the defending champion at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, with competitors at the season opener including Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He will then aim to win his first Grand Slam title in two years at the Australian Open.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... derer.aspx

[Mario]

Wiem, że sezon już się zaczął, ale tych kilka meczów nie wpłynęło na moje zdanie.

Spodziewam się na pewno mniejszej dominacji jakiegokolwiek zawodnika niż tej Djokovica z 2011 roku. Uważam, że Novak będzie zgarniał sporo na początku, a paliwa w baku zabraknie chyba szybciej, Nadal wielkiej roli nie powinien odegrać, ale na cegle powinien większość wygrać. Roger jeśli trafi z formą na ważne turnieje, zwłaszcza w drugiej części sezonu ma szansę na jakiś czas objąć prowadzenie w rankingu, a Murray jak zwykle zgarnie jakieś ochłapy po wyżej wymienionej trójce.

Mam nadzieje, że Del Potro zagra coś konkretnego w tym roku i wróci tam gdzie jego miejsce, Tsonga jeśli zdrowie dopisze również powinien być groźny. Dolgopolov powinien zrobić kolejny krok i awansować do top 10. Chciałbym, żeby Gael wrócił chociaż do "10", ponadto może Roddick zrobi jakiś pojedynczy, duży wynik.

[Barty]

Pytanie na sezon tenisowy (4): kolejny rok dominacji jednostki w męskich rozgrywkach?

Spoiler:

Pytanie na sezon tenisowy (4): kolejny rok dominacji jednostki w męskich rozgrywkach?

Każdy z ostatnich ośmiu sezonów tenisowych miał jednoznacznego bohatera. W latach 2004-2010 byli to Roger Federer lub Rafael Nadal, zaś sezon ubiegły to bezwzględna dominacja Novaka Đokovicia, który od stycznia do września przegrał dwa mecze. Czy w roku 2012 czeka nas kolejny sezon z wyraźnym liderem, czy też walka o pozycję lidera będzie się toczyć aż do Masters?


Novak Đoković, 24 lata, czterokrotny mistrz wielkoszlemowy (foto EPA)

Serb był liderem bezdyskusyjnym, jednak cena za ten sukces była wysoka. Po wygranym US Open wyraźnie zeszło z niego powietrze. Odezwały się także bark i plecy, źle znoszące przeciążenia powstające przy tak wyniszczającym stylu gry. Widząc dyspozycję Đokovicia w turniejach kończących sezon, wielu stawiało pod wątpliwość jego fizyczne możliwości w roku 2012. Jednak świeżo zakończony turniej w Abu Zabi zdaje się tę sytuację wyjaśniać. Serb w dwóch meczach (z Federerem i Ferrerem) stracił łącznie sześć gemów. Znów imponował szybkością i skutecznością, a po urazie nie było śladu.

Oczywiście można powiedzieć, że turniej pokazowy to żaden wyznacznik formy. Rywale potraktowali go ulgowo, są roztrenowani, zmęczeni, nie w cyklu treningowym... Jednak w Zjednoczonych Emiratach Đoković wysłał rywalom wiadomość. W tym roku nie zamierza zwalniać tempa i jeśli nie przegra z własnym zdrowiem, ciężko będzie go powstrzymać, zwłaszcza w turniejach wielkoszlemowych.

Rafael Nadal nie wydaje się być gotów do walki z Serbem. Sześć porażek w sezonie ubiegłym (do tego w finałach) pozostawiło ślad w jego grze. Stracił pewność uderzeń, jest mniej regularny. Do tego, podobnie jak Đokoviciowi, zaczęły dokuczać mu problemy zdrowotne. Już po US Open odezwał się lewy bark, potem zaś doszły problemy z kolanami. Hiszpan na razie nie jest gotów do walki o największe trofea i w Australii nie powinien odegrać większej roli.

Inaczej sprawa wygląda na kortach ziemnych, gdzie na wiosnę trzeba będzie się z nim liczyć (jak od siedmiu sezonów), gdyż nawet nie najlepiej dysponowany jest tam piekielnie groźny. Do wiosennych turniejów jednak jeszcze daleka droga.

Najpoważniejszym rywalem Đokovicia jest Roger Federer. Szwajcar nie jest już tak zabójczo skuteczny jak w czasach swojej największej świetności, ale wciąż podczas turniejów wielkoszlemowych potrafi grać fenomenalnie. Serb przekonał się o tym podczas Rolanda Garrosa i US Open. W Paryżu Szwajcar przerwał serię 43 kolejnych zwycięstw tenisisty z Belgradu, zaś w półfinale US Open miał dwie piłki meczowe przy własnym serwisie.

Federerowi jednak lat nie ubywa. O ile stać go na wygraną w turnieju Wielkiego Szlema (zapewne więcej niż jedną), o tyle regularne występy na najwyższym poziomie chyba odeszły już w niebyt. Szwajcar błyszczy formą w pojedynczych imprezach, lecz wiek robi swoje, a możliwości organizmu rok w rok spadają. Przebieg sezonu 2011 zdaje się jednak wskazywać, że to Federer będzie największą przeszkodą dla Serba w drodze po kolejne wielkoszlemowe tytuły.

http://www.sportowefakty.pl/tenis/2012/ ... ednostki-/

[Art]

Tenisiści, którzy mają spore szanse na obniżenie lotów w 2012:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1012 ... se-of-2012

[DUN I LOVE]

Mamy za sobą pierwszy tydzień nowego sezonu. Czy nie uważacie, że Raonic, Murray i Tsonga to może być właśnie ta 3 tenisistów, którzy mogą znacznie osłabić hegemonię Top-3?

[Sempere]

Mi się wydaje, że teraz jest jeszcze za wcześnie na wyciąganie takich daleko idących wniosków. Poczekajmy aż sezon się na dobre rozkręci i będzie można podebatować.

[DUN I LOVE]

Mi się wydaje, że teraz jest jeszcze za wcześnie na wyciąganie takich daleko idących wniosków. Poczekajmy aż sezon się na dobre rozkręci i będzie można podebatować.

To zdecydowanie, ale mała aktualizacja nie zaszkodzi, tym bardziej, że dość " perspektywiczni" ci mistrzowie z tego tygodnia.

Przed chwilą z Robertem ustaliliśmy, że Tsonga to większe, a Raonic to mniejsze zło dla najlepszych.
W zasadzie to Robert ustalił, ja słuchałem.

[Anula]

Mamy za sobą pierwszy tydzień nowego sezonu. Czy nie uważacie, że Raonic, Murray i Tsonga to może być właśnie ta 3 tenisistów, którzy mogą znacznie osłabić hegemonię Top-3?

Liczę na A.M. Liczę na WS w tym roku. Czy znacznie osłabi hegemonię Top-3. Samego szczytu pewnie nie osiągnie, ale 2,3 są możliwe.

[Jacques D.]

Mamy za sobą pierwszy tydzień nowego sezonu. Czy nie uważacie, że Raonic, Murray i Tsonga to może być właśnie ta 3 tenisistów, którzy mogą znacznie osłabić hegemonię Top-3?

Nie Murray nie ma psychy, Tsonga nie ma głowy a Raonic nie ma gry

[Saboteur]

Nie Murray nie ma psychy, Tsonga nie ma głowy a Raonic nie ma gry

Nie ma to jak brutalne zejście na ziemię

[Sempere]

Roddick: Big 4 have widened gap between rest

Andy Roddick says that ATP's top four of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray have widened the gap between themselves and the rest of the tour. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have combined for 30 Grand Slam titles since 2003 Wimbledon. Murray has yet to win a major, but reached the 2011 Australian Open final, as well as the semis of the three other majors last year.

"I think there is a significant divide," Roddick told a small group of U.S. reporters. "I know Murray hasn’t won one, but I think he’s a great player. The top four is pretty clear-cut. But it’s cyclical. A couple years ago it was only two guys and now its four guys. Can it be six guys, sure? Can it go back to two, sure? After ‘06 I was not one of the guys, and then for an eight-month stretch in ‘09 I was one of the guys. I think guys can come in and out, but as we stand, those are the four best."—Matt Cronin

http://www.tennis.com/articles/template ... &zoneid=25

[DUN I LOVE]

Mamy pierwszą weryfikację. Kolejny finał WS Nadal - Djoković, co tylko potwierdza panujący układ sił. Walka o władzę to chyba jednak nie Top-4, a w/w dwójka plus pretendenci do jej złamania, gdzie jeden powoli zostaje z tyłu (zadowala się tym, co spadnie ze stołu), a drugi od kilku lat jest pretendentem. Następnie ściana i reszta ATP - bardzo wyrównana stawka, z całą paletą osobowości, ciekawych graczy i naprawdę fajnych pojedynków.

Po raz pierwszy w Erze Open Djoko i Rafa zagrają we dwójkę w 3 z rzędu finale WS. Czy to znak na resztę 2012 roku? Na tę chwilę trudno sobie wyobrazić inny układ, ale może to i dobrze? Ilekroć coś wydaje się trwać wiecznie, tylekroć taki moment oznacza owego stanu koniec (np AO07, czyli szczyt dominacji Federera, stał się de facto początkiem jej schyłku).

Widzę potencjał w rywalizacji Djoko - Murray. Kapitalny mecz zagrali w Rzymie, bardzo zacięty dzisiaj. Nie sądzę, żeby to była taka sama mordęga jak rywalizacja Nadal - Djoko. Szkot ma jednak w mojej ocenie większy talent czysto tenisowy i ta jego gra ma w sobie trochę więcej "geniuszu" niż okładanie się obecnie dominującej dwójki. Na tę jednak chwilę optymalnie przygotowani fizycznie Rafa i Novak są poza zasięgiem reszty.

[Joao]

Novak mimo wszystko jest słabszy niż w roku poprzednim. Jeżeli los postanowiłby inaczej, w ewentualnym półfinale AO 2012 Djoković moim zdaniem przegrałby z Fedem. Z Murrayem też coraz ciężej mu idzie. Łatwiej do finałów dochodzić Nadalowi, gdyż Fedek i Murek nie lubią z nim grać.

[Joao]

Top Four Domination

Spoiler:

January 27, 2012

Every time the big four fills up all four spots in the semifinals, we hear the same trivia–how rarely the top four seeds all reach the semifinals; how often this particular group of four has done it, and so on. There’s no doubt that the current big four has dominated men’s tennis in a way that has rarely been seen before.

Words like “domination” aren’t very easy to quantify, which is why commentators fall back on those few bits of trivia. We can take a closer look to determine whether the current big four stands out as much as we think it does.

Won-loss record

Last year, the big four played 251 tour-level matches (not counting Davis Cup) against everybody else. They won 228 of them, for a winning percentage of 90.8%. My database goes back to 1991, and there hasn’t been a year in that time frame where the top four players did any better.

(For today’s purposes, each year’s top four are defined as the four men at the top of the year-end rankings. All numbers exclude Davis Cup and go back to 1991.)

In fact, four of the five best W-L records have come since 2004. 2008 and 2009, when the current top four was already reigning, are ranked 3rd and 4th. (The second best season for the top four, by this measure, was 2005, when Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt complemented Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.)

Slam performance

What really matters are the majors, right? Last year, the big four played 82 matches against everybody else at the slams, and won 80 of them, for a jaw-dropping 97.6% winning percentage. You might guess that it, as well, is the best in the last 20 years.

In fact, the second and third best top-four slam performances came in 2007 and 2008–each one including Federer, Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. (In 2007, Nikolay Davydenko was the year-end number four.) Both of those years, the top four lost only four grand slam matches to others.

Masters performance

The majors give us a small (though important) sample; the masters series offers more tournaments with similar high-quality fields. Largely due to Andy Murray‘s dreadful March, this is where the 2011 foursome falters a bit. Their record against everybody else of 90-13 is “only” third-best of the last twenty years.

But wait–the top masters series record was in 2009, of course with the same top four. And the second-best masters series record was in 2005, when Federer and Nadal ruled the world.

Beating the rest of the top 10

It’s no shock when the top four cruise through the early rounds of tournaments. What makes the current top four special is the way they regularly shut everyone else out of the last rounds, defeating excellent players such as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, and Juan Martin Del Potro.

Last year, the top four went 34-12 (73.9%) against the rest of the year-end top 10. That’s fourth-best of the last twenty years. The standout season, once again, was 2005, when Federer, Nadal, Roddick, and Hewitt went 30-4 (!) against the next six guys in the rankings. In both 2004 and 2006, the top four won exactly three-quarters of their matches against five through ten, just beating out last year’s top four.

To put these numbers in perspective, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that the top four beat up on the next six. In 1991, the top four of Edberg, Courier, Becker, and Stich actually posted a losing record against guys ranked five through ten. In both 1996 and 2000, the record was an even .500.

The bigger picture

Of course, there’s more to domination than performance in a single year. Much of the current big four’s reputation stems from their longevity atop the rankings, and looking at single years ignores that.

But as we’ve seen, there’s no need to look at more than one season. The big four was, in 2011, one of the most dominating quartets of the last 20 years by several measures, and according to two such measures, they were the most successful top four in recent memory.

Why? (In brief)

Here are three theories that might explain why the big four has so distanced itself from the pack:

1.These four guys are historically good.
2.The rest of the field these days is not that good. Or, at least, they are overawed by the big four.
3.Court speeds have become more uniform, meaning that top players win all year round, instead of a few specialists racking up big points for only a couple months.
The first two are possible. Certainly, Federer and Nadal are historically good, and Djokovic’s 2011 season was astounding. I doubt the rest of the pack is to blame–they seem plenty good to me, even if few of them are that good very much of the time.

I’m tempted by the third theory. As recently as 2003, there was almost always one clay-court specialist in the year-end top four–Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gustavo Kuerten, Sergei Bruguera. At the same time, guys like Pete Sampras, Pat Rafter, and Goran Ivanisevic rarely made a dent on clay.

Thus, no matter how many slams Sampras won, or how many clay titles Kuerten took, the top four just weren’t dominant year round. The idea that the same four players would reach the quarters, or even semis of every slam was borderline ridiculous. Now, it’s almost expected.

Of course, we can argue about the causes of this as well. Are the top four successful on all surfaces because the surfaces are more uniform? Because they are historically good? Because the game (or its equipment) has changed in such a way to make surface differences less meaningful? That’s a subject for another day.

http://heavytopspin.com/

[Pete]

Pamiętam narzekania, że na poziomie półfinałów Wielkiego Szlema w ostatnim czasie, emocji nie mamy. No i rzeczywiście tego było, ale na AO w tym roku, oglądaliśmy dwa niesamowicie emocjonujące mecze między 'Wielką Czwórką'. Myślicie, że ta tendencja może się utrzymać?

[Joao]

Mecze były emocjonujące, ale poziomem jednak nie powalały .